CHA News

App Helps Guide Individuals During a Behavioral Health Crisis

For behavioral health directors, emergency department directors

This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released “My Mental Health Crisis Plan,” a new mobile app that allows individuals with serious mental illness to create a plan to help guide their treatment preferences during a mental health crisis. 
The app was developed through SMI Adviser, a project that SAMHSA administers with funding from the American Psychiatric Association. This new resource provides a step-by-step process for individuals to create and share a psychiatric advance directive  — a legal document that includes a list of instructions and preferences that the individual wishes to be followed during a mental health crisis if they are unable to make their own decisions. 

The app also allows individuals to state clearly which medications to use and not to use, preferences for hospitals and mental health professionals, the names of trusted persons who can act on their behalf, and more.